After work on Wednesday, Melissa met me at my house and we had a drink before going to the Omni for “My Name is Buttons.” I had called a couple of friends during the afternoon because I wanted to see a lot of people come to the film. I had heard it was pretty funny. I wanted to make sure there were some butts in the seats for my friend, the director of the film, Courtney Davis. I also called Terry and Larry of “Gaydar” because I had invited them to attend and they said they would be able to come and would meet me at the Omni. They were at the LBJ Library gift shop when they called.

There were lots of people milling about outside the Omni and I could tell there was going to be a pretty big crowd. I saw some of the folks I screened films with for AFF as well as Kat Candler, who made “cicadas.” We saw Terry and Larry and went over to say hi to them. There was this older guy by them and I was thinking he was in Richard Linklater’s “Waking Life.’ He had a really distinctive voice and he seemed so familiar. Then Larry (or was it Terry?) told me that he was the guy from the AFF trailer and I snapped that it was the guy who pitches the “Welcome Back, Kotter” reunion movie in the AFF trailer. Terry and Larry said he had been at a panel they attended and he was also a writer.

We chitchatted for awhile and eventually they opened the doors so we could go into the screening room. This is basically a meeting room upstairs at the Omni Hotel that has been transformed into a theater with a video projector, a screen and lots of seats. They aren’t very comfortable and after a few years of getting used to stadium seating, it seems odd to view a film in a room where people’s heads are in the way. We chatted more as we waited for the film to start and it was very nice and relaxed. At some point in the evening I realized that one of the things I love about Terry and Larry is that they are really “real.” These guys are from L.A. and have some pretty interesting stuff on their resumes.

When I first met them, we talked about their short and how it stars Jm J. Bullock, Charles Nelson Reilly, and some hottie from “Days of Our Lives,” and how Larry had working in casting for the new “Family Affair” TV sitcom (starring Tim curry) but after that they never once brought up a celebrity’s name that I can recall. I mean, our first conversation was mainly me asking the questions which prompted them to talk about these stars.

They never name-drop or act pretentious. And for gay guys, they don’t seem catty at all. They never sit around and say things like, “Oh God, remember when Daisy got all sick and fucked up at that party and went home with Dennis Rodman,” like it’s some big inside story and you have to guess whether it was some girl named Daisy that they know or Daisy Fuentes or what! They never do stuff like that. They really keep it real. Like, we spent more time talking about their trip to the LBJ Library than anything else when we met up tonight. It was fun.

It’s refreshing that they are so unpretentious and so humble. Seriously, almost any time we’ve had a conversation about a “famous” or “semi-famous” person, I’ve been the one asking questions if not initiating the conversation. I really dig that. I have met so many pretentious, name-dropping, think-they-are-somebody morons at film festivals over the years (most of them from L.A.) and while it can be interesting somewhat, it gets annoying after awhile. It’s like somebody told an acquaintance of mine recently. His friend was talking with Robert Rodriguez (okay, now I’m name-dropping) about moving to L.A. and Rodriguez said L.A. was like living in a small town where everyone goes to the same bars and when you go there you run into the same people. It’s like a small town. It’s like high school. Anyway, eventually someone introduced Courtney and her co-director John Merriman and also the director of the short that played before “My Name is Buttons” called “The Adventures of Mad Matt.” They said a few words and then the films started. The volume on the trailer was a little low and I thought it was going to be a problem but they got it fixed and dimmed the lights and the showing ran like clockwork.

“The Adventures of Mad Matt” is one of the most interesting, funny and poignant short films I have seen in ages. I laughed and got teary-eyed and was just wowed by it. I am hoping to write a brief review of all the short films I’ve seen for the festival but I’m so behind in my coverage and writing right now. It’s killing me. “Mad Matt” might not only be the best short in the festival, it might be the best no-budget short I’ve seen ever.

We stayed for the Q&A even though it was already after 9pm. I knew there was no way we were going to make it to the Westgate by 9:30 for “Master of the Game,” and I had checked and there was no short listed as running before it, so I blew it off. Brad Renfro was supposed to be there to introduce “American Girl” on the other screen, so Melissa and I discussed going there and stargazing Renfro when we left the Omni.

The Q&A was pretty quick. Courtney introduced the star, cinematographer and also the editor of the film. (These were three different guys, by the way). Kevin Smith (no, not THE Kevin Smith, geez), who starred in Courtney’s short “The Interview,” edited the film. He also screens films for AFF and he’s a super-nice guy. There were a few people in “Buttons” whom I recognized including the girl in Courtney’s “Elvis Impersonator” short (I love this girl and I can never remember her name), some AFF screeners and John Christensen! I had remembered that John filmed some scenes for “Buttons;” it just occurred to me randomly during the day on Wednesday. And I meant to call Mark Brauner about the screening and totally forgot. John was just an extra but he was all over the last 5 minutes of the film. He was such a great actor. He taught me more about acting than anyone else I ever knew. Even in the smallest part, as the littlest extra in the littlest film, John gave 100%. God, I miss him. We said good-bye to Courtney and chatted with her a bit. She’s such a sweet and funny person. She plays a secondary character in “Buttons” and she was just great. She has really interesting comedic ideas. I think she could have as much of a career as an actress as she could as a filmmaker.

I was just thinking that I should write a short for her where she plays the host of a kid’s show or a TV weathergirl or something. She’s so cute and funny. And when she was doing the Q&A, she had such unusual body language. She’s, like, all elbows and kneecaps. But not in a bad way, really. It’s like she’s gawky but she makes gawky charming and sexy. I’ve never met anyone quite like that before. She’s one of those girls that makes me wish I was straight (you know, so she could shoot me down like all the guys do).

Terry and Larry had a dinner engagement, so we said our good-byes. Melissa told them that she would probably come to the Dobie on Thursday for the final screening of their film. I am planning on going to “Shag Carpet Sunset” and “Narc” on Thursday, so I can’t go. Terry and Larry gave me a VHS copy of “Gaydar,” though, so I will get to see it (http://www.gaydarthemovie.com).

Melissa and I headed to Westgete, about a 15-minute drive, but I didn’t hurry because we were already late. We got to the theater and went in. We were just going to catch what we could of “American Girl” and I was going to try and take pictures of Renfro during the Q&A. But when we got there, I asked the AFF volunteers if either movie had not started yet and the volunteers told me that they both had shorts before them and neither had started. I asked Melissa what she wanted to do and she said she would go wherever I went. “Master of the Game” was a local film by Jeff Stohland, so I figured I’d better go to it. We went in and the short was just ending. Melissa went to get us some popcorn and I grabbed a seat.

“Master of the Game” is best discussed as a film. See the review. Suffice it to say, we didn’t hang around for the Q&A, if there was one. We decided to head out. I was ready to go home and start writing but we ran into Phatt Matt and his friend Steve Buscemi Jr. (Okay, his name is Paul and he’s even hotter than Buscemi). Also in attendance: Fritz! Fritz is a little hottie who is blonde and pale and wan and has the most awesome smile. He has those adorable, little, weird, vampire teeth at the side of his smile. Whew!

Anyway, we stopped to talk and ended up standing in front of the Westgate for almost an hour chatting. Sadly, Matt’s friend Meredith, who’s a real sweetie, had just left to go home, so we missed her.

They had been to the “American Girl” film and told all kinds of stories about the screening. Renfro was a bit loaded, they said, and had done an introduction. They said that when the movie started he was talking loudly and stuff and being weird. They wanted to kick his ass. Then, about 15 minutes into the film there’s a scene where he comes in to the bathroom in his underwear and his mother is on the toilet. Fritz laughed out loud at that and Renfro was pretty quiet thereafter.

We talked about “Pageant,” the never released DV film that Fritz was in and about a hundred other things and eventually Renfro came out with his entourage. He struck a pose a feet away from us for a guy with a really professional looking camera, so I didn’t want to ask if I could take one with my little podunk-y digital Polaroid. Plus, we were having such fun dissing him and laughing at the absurdity of Brad Renfro, fucked up out of his gourd, talking loudly and being weird literally inches from us. It was hilarious.

Oh yeah – Matt had said something about how when before the movie had started, he and some of his friends were in front of the theater and someone was drinking a Red Bull and Renfro came up and started talking about how no one drinks Red Bull where he’s from because it has bull semen in it and then someone said it tasted like Sweet-Tarts and he flipped out and said, “Yes! Yes! The sour ones!” I just love little freaky and absurd stories like that.

Eventually Renfro and his female companion left as did his hangers-on. The folks from “Master of the Game” came out and started to leave and, finally, we seemed like the last people left, so we all said our good-byes and headed to our respective cars and went home.

And they call L.A. la-la land! Austin is keeping it weird, baby!

Lodger2002 @ AFF2002